The Application relates to wireless communications, and more particularly to methods, apparatus, and data structures for communicating data to wireless communications devices.
Mobile wireless communication devices such as hand-held or palm-top computers and cell phones are coming into increasingly widespread use. A large part of their usefulness, and therefore their popularity, derives from their portability. This is particularly true as the useful portability, i.e., the effective range, of such devices has been extended across states and provinces, regions, countries, and even oceans and continents. Extensions of the useful ranges of mobile wireless devices has been greatly facilitated by the use of communications networks as communications links for the wireless devices, both in linking them with other wireless devices and in linking them with devices such as telephones and personal computers linked, often by hard-wired connections, to public and private communications networks such as local area networks (LANs), the internet, and public switched-telephone systems.
A very powerful model for communications networks used with mobile wireless communications devices has been the administrative server—wireless device client architecture. In such networks one or more administrative servers, which commonly comprise powerful computer systems, are used to control communications and administrative functions such as accounting for large groups of client wireless devices. Typically, a particular mobile device is associated with a single administrative server for purposes of billing, accounting, etc., and wirelessly communicates with the server, and with other communications devices, through the use of formatted radio or other electromagnetic signals.
Because the effective range across the surface of the earth of most radio and other electromagnetic signals suitable for use in wireless communications is limited, and users of wireless devices find it advantageous to be able to communicate from arbitrary ranges and locations, it has been found efficient to use various forms of relays in maintaining communications between mobile communications devices and their servers. One particularly effective model for providing such relays has been the use of local wireless service providers. Local wireless service providers commonly provide communications links between mobile wireless communications devices permanently or temporarily located in areas served the service providers, and via various networks and/or systems of networks, as needed, the administrative servers associated with the mobile wireless devices. For example, a message sent from a mobile wireless device in a given area may be received by a local wireless service provider, which can relay the message, via wired or wireless link, to a server to which the device is assigned, or with which it is otherwise associated, beyond the range of wireless transmissions available at the time to the mobile wireless device. Likewise, a message from the server to the mobile device may be relayed by one or more local wireless service providers to the mobile device. Thus the use of such local service providers, particularly in geographically-extended networks, can effectively provide limitless ranges and coverage for mobile wireless devices. For this and other reasons, local service providers form an important part in wireless communications networks.
In order to provide continuous and competitive service over broad geographic areas, large numbers of local service providers have been established. This has enabled users of mobile wireless devices to move from location to location while remaining in continuous contact with their administrative servers, as well as with other communication devices.
For example, in a typical network scheme a mobile wireless device may, upon being turned on in an arbitrary location, establish contact with a local wireless service provider, identify itself and/or its administrative server to the local service provider, and establish and maintain communications with the server other devices, using the local service provider as a relay. Moreover, the mobile device can be moved from the area covered by that local service provider into an area covered by a second local service provider, establish contact with the second service provider, and maintain previous communications, or begin new communications, with other devices, using the second local service provider as a relay.
In many regions more than one local service provider is available to provide relay services for a given specific location. For example, in urban areas there often exist two or more competing services, either of which may be available to provide relay services for individual mobile devices. It can be possible, in such situations, for a user of a mobile device to select the local service provider the user wishes to use. In other instances, where pluralities of local service providers are available, selections for local coverage are made, as for example on a contract basis, by administrators associated the administrative server associated with each individual mobile device.
Because of the large number of local service providers available, the importance of the services they can provide, the great mobility of mobile communications devices, and other factors, there is a real and growing need for individual local service providers to be able to send messages created, or otherwise controlled or sponsored, by them to mobile communications devices for which they are providing relay or other communications services.